


Needed It

by onlyhereforellick



Category: NCIS
Genre: F/M, fic request, tag 16x10
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-12
Updated: 2020-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:47:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23119456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onlyhereforellick/pseuds/onlyhereforellick
Summary: It was a simple question, and yet- not one at the same time. She didn’t have a simple answer for him.
Relationships: Ellie Bishop/Nick Torres
Kudos: 37





	Needed It

**Author's Note:**

> 9\. "I needed you."
> 
> for the anon on tumblr
> 
> bet ya didn't think there could be angst post 16x10, but have no fear- I managed to bring it 😉

It was late, her feet hurt from the long day working their strange case, and she just- wanted- to be- home. So why on earth was Nick sprinting towards her in the parking lot when she was seconds from blessedly shutting the door on work for the weekend? She’d tried her best to act like everything was peachy- normal, even. Despite Nick going out of his way and canceling her date. Even when _he’d_ been the one to shut _her_ out after they dropped little Cody off at his adoptive parents. So yeah, maybe she’d been a tad more distant, but she hadn’t let it show. She still cozied up to him in the dive bar, didn’t she? Act like all was fine with them?

Not even huffing and puffing- _damn fit man_ , Nick came abruptly to a stop in front of her. She held the door to her truck’s driver side open, placing it between the two of them. She needed her distance, _needed_ it.

“Ellie- wait.” Nick stood chest heaving just slightly, and yes, she might have taken a little solace in that.

She couldn’t keep the bite in her tone back at this point, it had been too long of a day, and frankly- too long of a past month. “What, Nick? Came to say goodnight again?” The sarcasm that flowed through her last sentence as sharp as snack bite.

Nick visibly flinched as she delivered that blow. A quick roll of his shoulders and he tried again, “Are you mad at me?”

It was a simple question, and yet- not one at the same time. She didn’t have a simple answer for him.

Was she mad? Maybe.

Was she upset? Potentially.

Was she disappointed? Definitely.

A resigned sigh and shake of her head as she moved to take a seat, Ellie stopped in her tracks when Nick’s strong hand grasped the edge of the truck door, halting its motion.

“Let it go, Nick.” The double meaning to her words not lost on him. She wanted to forget it all, erase the memories they build of caring for a baby—something that had meant so _much_ to her, but clearly…meant nothing to him, if his radio-silence afterwards was any indication.

She turned her head to face out the windshield, hoping he would get the point.

“What can I do, Ellie? What do you need?” The desperation was evident in Nick’s voice, and Ellie- well, she couldn’t find a fiber in her being to care. He’d been absent after the blow of dropping a baby that felt like _theirs_ off on a doorstep, so why did it matter now?

Hand on the door handle, Ellie shifted her gaze over to Nick, the weight of the last month landing squarely on her shoulders. It had been a lot to handle alone, too much if she were being honest. She still wasn’t over it. Giving away that baby had torn a piece of her heart out and left it at the walkway to Cody’s new house. When she needed a shoulder to cry on, a confident to understand- Nick had been noticeably absent. And maintained that until she found a different guy to listen to her emotions, a guy that may not _truly_ understand, but hey- at least he was _there_.

Her words hung heavily in the air, just as they felt on her heart, “I needed you. And you weren’t there, Nick.” It broke her heart to see his eyes fill with grief, mirroring hers welling with tears. Wordlessly she tugged on the door and Nick let it go without hesitation. Tearing her eyes from his, she felt the first tear fall. The bang of the old door akin to the bomb that dropped on their burgeoning relationship the moment that baby left their lives.


End file.
